MR HIERN, ON EBENACE^. 235 



111. DIOSPYROS RAMIFLORA, Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 40 (1814). 



D. foliis alternis, ovalibus ml oblongis, apice acuminatis, basi angustatis, coriaceis, glabris; 

 floribus femineis dense fasciculatis secus ramos vetmtiores, 4 Q-meris, tomentosis, calyce cam- 

 panidato irregulariter lobato accrescente, corolld urceolato-oblongd obtuse lobatd, staminodiis 



10 12, glabris, ovario ovoideo-conico, fulvo-tomentoso, 10- vel 12-loculari, fructibus globosis, 



magnis, subscabris, edulibus, 10 12-spermis. 



Eoxb. Fl. Ind., edit. 1832, Vol. n. p. 535. n. 7 ; Drawings in Herb. Kew ; Wall. List 

 n. 4119 (182832); Wight Ic. t. 189 (1840); Alph. DC. Prodr. vin. p. 233. n. 57 (1844). 



A large dioecious tree with glabrous leaves and branches and straight trunk. Leaves oval 

 or oblong, acuminate at apex, somewha,t narrowed at base, coriaceous, alternate, shining 

 and of same colour on both sides, margins slightly undulated and recurved, 4 10 in. long 

 by 1 Sin. wide, veins not conspicuous above, petioles ^ | in. long; midrib wide and 

 channelled above. 



9 . Flowers urceolate-oblong, collected in small short fascicles on the thick woody branches, 

 tetramerous pentamerous or hexamerous ; the inflorescence is however sometimes on young 

 shoots or in racemes or panicles. Pedicels and calyces clothed with olive-coloured down; 

 calyx \ in. long, urceolate, with inflated tube and deltoid lobes -fa ^ in. deep ; corolla J \ in. 

 long, white, covered with short felt outside, glabrous inside except on the obtuse imbri- 

 cated lobes which are about \ the depth of the corolla, at first spreading and then re volute; 

 tube somewhat inflated. Staminodes 10 or 12, double the number of the parts of the 

 flower, glabrous, in one row, shorter than the corolla-tube. Ovary about the length of the 

 calyx, ferruginous-hairy, ovoid-conical, 10 or 12-celled; cells 1-ovuled; style short; stigmas 

 5 or 6. Fruit globular, 2| 3 in. in diameter, slightly scabrous, resting on the very thick 

 enlarged calyx which is about 1 \ in. in diameter, 10 12-celled ; cells 1-seeded ; seeds 

 transversely lined outside ; albumen somewhat ruminated (?) 



Native name Oori-gaub or Goolul on eastern frontier of Bengal, where, according to Dr 

 Roxburgh, the tree grows wild to a great size, and supplies the natives with very strong 

 hard wood. Silhet, Wallich! 4119; Tipperah, Roxburgh. 



The position of this species in the genus is uncertain in consequence of the want of 

 knowledge of the male plant and of the nature of the albumen in the seed; thus when 

 more intimately known, the species may require to be removed to Sect. I. MELONIA or 

 elsewhere. 



112. DIOSPYROS DIEPENHORSTII, Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. Suppl. i. pp. 250, 583 (1860). 



D. foliis oblongis, apice breviter acuminatis, basi obtusis, firmiter coriaceis, glabris, 

 breviter petiolatis ; ftoribus femineis secus ramos vetustiores aggregatis, ovario ovoideo, hepta- 

 gono, glabro, I4s-loculari, basi abrupte stipitato-constricto, calyce coriaceo cupulato grossificante, 

 extus parce appresso-pubescente. 



Buds somewhat hirsute; branchlets glabrous. Leaves oblong or obovate-oblong, the 

 upper ones sublanceolate, rounded or obtuse at the base, shortly acuminate, glabrous, of 

 firm parchment-like texture, smooth above with the lateral veins usually depressed, pale 



302 



